In 2018, a mystery in the field of extragalactic astrophysics has been revealed and it woke up the curious mind. The study was published in the journal Nature and it has since then paved the way for more studies about it to be conducted. Recently, a ground of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias released an explanation to explain the mystery of the supposed existence of a galaxy without dark matter.
In the current theory of galaxy formation, scientists find it impossible to explain how it would be possible for a galaxy to exist without dark matter. This accounts for the fact that dark matter is vital in causing the collapse of the gas that will help form the stars.
Today, according to an article published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), a group of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias has finally unlocked the mystery with a series of observations. The researchers had to make changes in the parameters that were used particularly because the distance assigned to the galaxies was quite anomalous. Using five varying methods to determine the estimated distance of the object, they came to one conclusion: the galaxy was much nearer than the initial value that was assigned to it.
The original article that was published in Nature said that the galaxy had an estimated distance of 64 million light-years from the Earth. However, this new research reveals that the new galaxy discovered was only rough 42 million light-years away from Earth. Because of this new revelation, the inferred distance of the galaxy has become "normal" that it already fits the trends of all the other galaxies that are of its kind.
One of the most important facts that were revealed in the analysis of the distance is that the total mass of the galaxy is around half of the initial mass that was previously estimated. In addition, the mass of its stars is only about a quarter of the mass that was reported. This implies that the significant part of the total mass of the galaxy may be made up of dark matter.
The results of this study reveal how important it is to measure intergalactic distances as it could help explain a possible phenomenon that is yet to be understood. Although it remains to be a bit challenging for the practice of astrophysics, it is a must for people to engage more time in learning to measure the distances, especially when they are just too far.
